Circular walk between the Ain and Valouse gorges

Date of your route : Aug 25, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Very poorly signposted route with little of interest

Machine-translated

Date of your route : Jul 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

• We did this walk today, but in the opposite direction, so that we could tackle most of the climb whilst it was still cool. We had a picnic at the Turgon watering hole. Then we made our way back down along the lovely little road: there are some sunny stretches, which aren’t too bad when you’re going downhill, but there are also plenty of shaded sections. You can see Cornod Castle on the way down.
• We met a representative from the Thoirette walking club who asked us what route we were taking. When we told him where we were walking (along the Valouse), he mentioned a section that had been made difficult by the storm, where the grass was very tall and hid the hazards, and said to us: ‘You can get through, er, yes, er, you can get through’.
• The section in question is at the Bois de la Combe along the Valouse. You need to be very careful, as you can’t see where you’re putting your feet. You can slip on bits of wood, trip over vines, get scratched by brambles, or sink your foot into a hole. It’s best to take it slowly with every step. When it’s just a matter of stepping over tree trunks, it’s fine, but in some places you have to climb up a slope made of bits of wood, stone and moss to get past the large tree lying across the path. There’s tall grass for quite a distance, so caution is advised.
• Otherwise, it’s a brilliant hike, with plenty of variety. So, thanks to ppillon.

Machine-translated

Date of your route : Jun 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The first half of the route was really lovely; we did struggle a bit with the dense vegetation, given this year’s frequent rain. But we were in the woodland and spent quite a long time walking along the Valouse. Very pleasant.
On the second half, there was a rather long stretch on the tarmac road leading to Turgon, but we were lucky to have slightly overcast weather, so we weren’t in direct sunlight, which might otherwise have made this part a bit hot.
Then the descent back down to Thoirette was lovely once again, through the woodland.
The village of Thoirette is also very pretty.
Thank you for suggesting this walk, which wasn’t particularly difficult but was very enjoyable.

Machine-translated

I haven’t done this walk yet, but I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve completed the route

Machine-translated